Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained to HBO host Bill Maher Friday night why he believes the “woke mind virus” poses an existential threat to civilization, citing threats to merit and free speech.

“You have talked about this woke mind virus in really apocalyptic terms,” Maher said to Musk. “I don’t — you should explain why you don’t think it’s hyperbole to say things like it’s pushing civilization towards suicide. First of all, what is the woke mind virus?”

“I think we need to be very cautious about anything that is anti-meritocratic and anything that results in the suppression of free speech,” Musk responded. “So, those are two of the aspects of the woke mind virus that I think are very dangerous, is that it’s often very anti-meritocratic, and you can’t question things. Even the questioning is bad.”

WATCH:

Finally got to talk to the guest I’ve wanted to have on @HBO @RealTimers more than any other – Thank you, @ElonMusk! pic.twitter.com/sTisVxWknO

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 29, 2023

Maher asked Musk where the “woke mind virus” that Musk viewed with concern originated.

“I was trying to figure out where it’s coming from. I think it’s actually been a long time brewing, in that it’s — I think it’s been going on for a while, and the amount of indoctrination that’s happening in schools and universities is I think far beyond what parents realize,” Musk said.

Musk closed the deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion on Oct. 27, seeking to create a “common digital town square” on the site, according to the Wall Street Journal. Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon later claimed the suspension of the satirical site over a March 15 tweet linking to a satirical post calling Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who serves as assistant secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, “Man of the Year,” was one of the reasons Tesla CEO Elon Musk chose to buy the site.

The contents of school curricula became a hot-button political issue in 2021 as parents protested the use of critical race theory, which holds that America is fundamentally racist, and teaches people to view every social interaction and person in terms of race.

Parents across the country also raised objections to books with sexually explicit content in recent years, prompting some states to act to remove them from schools.

“I sort of came to realize this somewhat late, but the experience that we had in high school and college is not the experience that kids today are having, and hasn’t been for, I don’t know, ten years, maybe 20 years,” Musk said.

AUTHOR

HAROLD HUTCHISON

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘In Two Seconds, I Could Get Canceled’: Bill Maher Rips Liberal Audiences On CNN

RELATED TWEET:

If you’re part of today’s woke revolution, you need to study the part of revolutions where they spin out of control. pic.twitter.com/IYNfDhtR0C

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) February 4, 2023

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

---

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.